The present invention relates generally to the automotive industry and more particularly to safety restraint systems for automotive vehicles.
Automotive vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks and buses) are provided with safety restraint systems (also commonly referred to simply as seat belts or safety belts) to restrain passengers within their seats. In this capacity, when a vehicle is subjected to a sudden movement (e.g., as the result of an accident), safety restraint systems serve to prevent each passenger from being jostled or thrown from the vehicle seat, thereby preventing each passenger from experiencing serious injuries.
As can be appreciated, safety restraint systems have been deemed essential devices in maintaining automotive safety. As a consequence, automotive industry standards mandate that safety restraint systems be provided in all automotive vehicles.
One type of safety restraint system which is commonly provided in automotive vehicles is a two-point lap belt. A two-point lap belt, which is often provided in the rear seats of an automobile, comprises a strap, or belt, which is designed to resiliently retract onto a take-up reel. The free end of the strap is provided with a metal tongue which is adapted to be selectively engaged by a buckle. It should be noted that the take-up reel and the buckle are fixedly secured to the opposite sides of the seat cushion of the vehicle seat for which it is provided. As such, with a passenger present on the seat and with the lap belt configured into its locked position, the belt extends laterally across the lap/waist of the passenger and is engaged by the buckle, with the buckle and the take-up reel providing the passenger with two separate points of restraint (i.e., a two-point restraint system).
Another type of safety restraint system which is commonly provided in automotive vehicles is a three-point shoulder harness. A three-point shoulder harness, which is often provided in the front seat of an automobile, comprises a strap, or belt, having a first end which is designed to resiliently retract onto a first take-up reel and a second end which is designed to resiliently retract onto a second take-up reel. A metal tongue is typically affixed onto the strap between its first and second ends, the tongue being adapted to be selectively engaged by a buckle. It should be noted that the first and second take-up reels are fixedly secured on the same side of the vehicle seat for which it is provided, the first take-up reel being located along the side of the seat cushion and the second take-up reel being located along the top of the back support. It should also be noted that the buckle is fixedly secured to the opposite side of the seat cushion from the first take-up reel. As such, with a passenger present on the seat and with the shoulder harness configured in its locked position, the belt extends laterally across the lap/waist of the passenger as well diagonally across the torso of the passenger until the tongue is engaged by the buckle, with the buckle and both take-up reels providing the passenger with three separate points of restraint (i.e., a three-point restraint system).
Although well-known and widely provided in automotive vehicles, lap belt and shoulder harness safety restraint systems of the type described above are designed only for use with larger passengers (i.e., passengers weighing over approximately 100 pounds).
For smaller passengers, such as infants and young children, there exist a wide variety of products which can be removably installed onto a vehicle and which function in conjunction with standard lap belt and shoulder harness safety restraint systems to restrain smaller passengers within an automobile.
Specifically, for an infant or young child weighing under 40 pounds, a car seat is typically employed to help restrain such a child within an automotive vehicle. A car seat is typically in the form of a reduced sized bucket seat which is provided with its own safety harness system to restrain the child therewithin. The car seat, in turn, is secured onto a seat in the vehicle using the standard lap belt or shoulder harness safety restraint which is provided for the vehicle seat on which the car seat is positioned.
For a young child weighing between 40 and 100 pounds, a booster seat is typically employed to help restrain such a child within an automotive vehicle. A booster seat is a small seat which is positioned on top of the seat cushion of a vehicle seat, thereby boosting the child up slightly from the seat cushion. The standard lap belt or shoulder harness safety restraint provided for the vehicle seat is used, in turn, to both secure the booster seat onto the vehicle seat and restrain the child onto the booster seat.
Although well known and widely used in commerce, booster seats suffer from a couple notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, it has been found that booster seats often inadequately restrain a child secured thereby. Specifically, many conventional booster seats only provide a child passenger with two points of restraint. As can be appreciated, for a small child (i.e., a child weighing between 40 and 100 pounds), two points of restraint are often inadequate in preventing serious injury.
As a second drawback, it has been found that the installation and use of a booster seat is relatively cumbersome and time-consuming. In fact, due to the complexity involved in routinely installing a booster seat onto vehicle seat, it has been found that a booster seat is often improperly installed, thereby subjecting the child seated thereon to severe risk of injury. Furthermore, due to the large amount of time required to secure a booster seat onto a vehicle seat, certain guardians often bypasses the use of a booster seat entirely, opting instead to have the child to ride either without any harness system or with the vehicle provided harness system (which is improperly sized for the child), which is highly undesirable.
Accordingly, it is well known in the art for safety restraint systems specifically designed for a child (often referred to simply as child harness systems) to be integrated directly into a vehicle seat, thereby eliminating the need for a separate infant car seat or booster seat to be installed onto the vehicle seat.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,855 to M. L. Harmon, there is disclosed a vehicle seat with a built-in child safety seat that offers a five point restraint system directly anchored to the vehicle seat frame. Foldable headrests are provided which extend outwardly to form lateral headrests for a child carried by the child safety seat. The safety seat and headrests fold into the main vehicle seat back and are concealed when not in use.
Vehicle seats of the type described in detail above which are provided with an integrated child harness system typically suffer from a notable drawback. Specifically, the harness system integrated into the vehicle seat is not sized to adequately restrain an adult. As a result, an adult who attempts to sit on the seat while the automobile operates is required to: (1) ride without being secured by an adequate restraint system, (2) sit at an alternate site within the automobile (or, as is often the case, in another automobile entirely), or (3) perform a considerably complex, cumbersome and time-consuming conversion of the vehicle seat and its corresponding safety restraint system to accommodate a larger sized passenger.